Devotional
Love the Stranger
by Laura Chiefetz
"You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers
in the land of Egypt." --Deuteronomy 10:19
The Flight into
Egypt
by Jean-Francois Millet
Read Ruth 1
I can hardly blame Orpah for wanting to remain in her homeland
when Naomi returned to Judah. Being a migrant, particularly a
woman migrant, is not a blissful experience. Don't you think
Mary longed for her home when she fled to Egypt with Joseph and
Jesus? The upheaval associated with leaving one's home for a
strange land is greatly exacerbated by the discrimination migrants
face. Why do we turn away when God clearly mandates that we "love
the stranger"? Why is it that we, who are the strangers
by virtue of ability, accent, language, class status, or racial
or ethnic background, sometimes accept our "stranger"
status?
Who is "the stranger" to you? The most prominent xenophobia-fear
and/or hatred of anything or anyone strange or foreign-manifested
in social attitudes and legislation in the United States is anti-Latin
American, particularly anti-Mexican. Yet an "estimated 50
percent of illegal immigrants [are] from countries such as Ireland,
Italy, and Canada . . . who overstay their visas" (Uprooted!
Refugees and Forced Migrants, by Elizabeth G. Ferris, New York:
Friendship Press, 1998).
We are a broken people. This keeps us from seeing the beauty
of God's precious great multitude. Each one of us plays a part
in perpetuating racism and xenophobia within our communities
and globally, despite the fact that most of us have been strangers.
The United States is composed of migrants and the descendants
of those who migrated by choice or by force or who were brutally
colonized. The Americas and countless other areas of the world
are the rightful homes of indigenous peoples (the Saami in Norway,
the Ainu of Japan, the Maori of New Zealand).
2001 is the International Year of Mobilization against Racism,
Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. In
September, as part of the struggle to end our brokenness, thousands
will convene in Durban, South Africa at the World Conference
Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related
Intolerance. As a church and as a world community preparing for
this conference, how will we love the stranger, so that the stranger
becomes a friend? For those of us who are subject to racial discrimination,
how will we love ourselves so that we no longer accept being
the stranger? For we are all an integral part of God's creation.
Praise God for the wondrous things God has made.
Holy God, who created all
that is and pronounced it good, we come to you in wonder at the
infinite diversity of your creation. Give us the grace to welcome
those we consider strangers, that we might become friends and
allies. May we accept your invitation to your table. May your
table provide sustenance to aid us in the struggle against injustice.
In the name of Jesus Christ, who liberates us from all our sins,
Amen.
Laura Mariko Cheifetz is coordinator for the Gender Justice
Program at the Presbyterian United Nations Office in New York,
part of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program.
Back to top | Next
Department
|
